A True Test
by Hideout Writer
Summary: Q placed humanity on trial for 'many and grievous' counts of savagery. Deciding that the 'Farpoint test' wouldn't be enough, another powerful being creates a test of his own fro the crew of the Enterprise.
1. Chapter 1

_Stardate 41153.7:_

"Get to your feet, criminals!" a soldier shouted, then fired his fist gun. Piard ignored the man, looking past to the spotlight's target.

A chair was floating forward, or perhaps it was mounted, Picard couldn't tell due to the poor lighting. On the chair, or throne, Picard saw a figure dressed in red robes with a rather ridiculous black hat on. A gold chain with a red stone set in it hung from the person's neck, and as the chair moved closer, Picard recognized the figure. It was Q.

"At least we are acquainted with the judge, captain." Data said. Picard couldn't tell if the android was being humorous or not.

The chair moved all the way out into the room, and swiveled to the right, and Q made a gesture of dismissal. The people on that side of the room sat down, and the chair swiveled to the left, where Q repeated the gesture.

The soldier fired his weapon again. "Attention!" he yelled. There was no visible response from the four Starfleet officers, so he shouted again. "Attention! On your feet, Attention!" The man was grimacing such that Picard almost felt sorry for him. In exasperation, the soldier fired at the ground.

Tasha, no longer able to restrain herself, stood up, and planted her foot in the man's sternum. The crowd became restless as she proceeded to tackle the man.

Picard's touch on her elbow made her remember, and she backed off.

"You are out of order." Q stated.

The man knew he was doomed, but took a hit from his drug dispenser as if that might appease Q. It didn't, and another solder fired his fist gun into the man on the ground. He was dead within seconds.

The crowd cheered.

"The prisoners will not be harmed." Q said, as his chair moved to the center of the room. He smirked, then added in a quieter tone, "Until their found guilty."

The crowd began to whisper as Q looked at the body, saying, "Dispose of that."

A rope loop was placed around the man's boot, and the corpse was dragged from the room.

At this point, the four officers were standing, and Picard mustered the courage to ask "Can we assume you mean this will be a fair trial?"

"Yes." Q intoned gravely. "Absolutely equitable."

Picard smiled to Tasha, and she stepped back up onto the prisoner's dais, then the four sat down.

"Before this gracious court now appeared these prisoners to answer for the multiple and grievous savageries of the species." said a tall man. Picard noticed that he seemed to be of Oriental persuasion, but paid it little thought, paying more attention to the words as the man continued. "How plead you, criminal?"

"If I may, captain?" Data asked. Picard nodded. The android stood, saying "Objection, your Honor. In the year 2036, the New United Nations declared that 'no Earth citizen could be made to answer for the crimes of his race or forbearers.'"

"Objection Denied!" Q stated. "This is a court of the year 2079, by which time more 'rapid progress' had caused all 'united Earth' nonsense to be abolished."

Tasha jackknifed to her feet again as Picard said "Tasha, no!"

"I must!" she replied, moving past the captain. "Because I grew up in a world that allowed things like this _court_, and it was people like _these_," here she gestured to her comrades. "that saved me from it. This so-called court should get down on it's knees to what Starfleet is; to what it represents!"

Q leaned forward, a stern, emotionless mask on his face, and froze Tasha solid. The crowd broke out in cheers again as she fell backwards.

Data caught her, and gently lowered her to the ground.

The other two officers were by her side within seconds, and Deanna looked up at Q with a mix of shock and grief on her face as she exclaimed "You barbarian! This woman…"

Whatever she was saying was quickly drowned out by the tall man who had opened the proceedings as he said "The criminals will keep silent!"

"You've got a lot to learn about humans if you think you can torture us, or frighten us into silence!" Picard stated through gritted teeth.

He turned back to the frozen security chief. "Will she be live?" he asked of Data.

The android replied "Not certain. When he froze Lieutenant Torres on the bridge, we had our sickbay to help thaw him out." Q yawned while the android was speaking, blatantly showing his boredom for the whole event.

"You will answer the charges, criminal." the tall man stated levelly.

"Or what!" Picard spat. "Or this? Death, or worse? You promised the prisoners will not be harmed! We plead nothing so long as you break your own rules."

Q became interesting again, and leaned forward, the platform moving with him. "I suggest you center your attention on this trail, captain." With a smirk, he added. "It might be your only hope."

"I suggest you are now having second thought about it." Picard replied, hoping to win this verbal duel. "You are considering that if you conduct a fair trial, WHICH WAS YOUR PROMISE! You may lose."

"Lose?" Q asked, shocked by the notion.

"Yes. Even though you're Judge and Prosecutor." came the level reply.

"And Jury!" Q shot back, miffed.

"Accepted. So long as you keep to your agreement, and assaulting a prisoner is hardly a fair trial!" came the retort.

"This." Q said, secretly impressed "is a merciful court." he thawed Tasha as Picard looked on.

The crowd began booing, but Data and Deanna paid them no mind, helping Tasha back to her seat.

The din continued for several seconds before Q decided he'd had enough. The chair rose several feet, backing away from the prisoner's dais as it did so. He then stood up.

"SILENCE!" he roared. The effect was immediate. He continued on. "Continuing these proceedings, I must caution you that legal trickery is not permitted. This is a court"

Picard joined him in the last few words, surprising the omnipotent being yet again. "Of fact! We humans know our past, even when we're ashamed of it! I recognize this court system as agreeing with that one line from Shakespeare: 'Kill all the lawyers!'"

"Which was done." Q smirked.

"Leading to the rule 'guilty until proved innocent.'"

"Of course! Bringing the innocent to trial would be unfair." The chair, which seemed to move with Q's mood, descended to the point where Q was right in front of Picard, face to face. His voice hardened as Q pronounced "You will now answer to the charge of being a grievously savage race."

"'Grievously savage' could mean anything." Picard noted quietly. "I will answer only specific charges."

"Are you certain you want a full disclosure of human ugliness?" Q asked. The familiar smirk appeared again. "So be it, fool!" In a more official voice he stated "Present the charges!"

"Criminal! You will read the charges to the court!" the man held out a data tablet.

The captain accepted it, and silently read over the charges. "I see no charges against **us**, your Honor."

The crowd made a surprised sound as the multitude grasped his meaning.

"You are out of order!" Q stated, shocked.

Two soldiers came in with fist guns, one taking their station next to Data, his gun to the android's temple, and the other to Deana's temple, ready to fire.

"Soldiers, you will press those triggers if this criminal answers with any word other than guilty." Q said. It was time to end the madness.

"Criminal, how plead you?" Q asked.

Picard looked away from Data, and knowing that Deana was in the same position, looked toward Q and said "Guilty."

The crowd burst into cheers as Q's chair rose. Q stood, wearing the seemingly ever-present smirk on his face.

"Provisionally."

Q's demeanor shifted. How did this human continue dodging silver bullets? Curious, Q moved to sit, saying "The court will hear the provision."

"We question whether this court is abiding by it's own trial rules. I seek permission to have Commander Data repeat the record."

"There will be no legal trickery." Q said, a finger of warning raised.

"It will be your own words, your Honor." Picard retorted. He turned towards Data. "What exactly followed his statement that 'the prisoners will not be harmed'?"

Data stood. "The captain had asked" here he shifted his voice to mimic Picard. "'Can we assume you mean this will be a fair trial?' And in reply, the judge stated 'Yes, absolutely equitable.'"

"Irrelevant testimony. Entirely irrelevant." Q stated, shifting in his seat.

Picard looked around mentally. Seeing no logical way out, he snapped. "All right! We agree there is evidence to support the court's contention that humans have been savage!"

The crowd started laughing, and Q looked to his right in smug victory.

"Therefore I say Test Us!"

Q looked sharply back towards the prisoner's dais. Had this human dodged yet again?

"Test whether that is presently true of humans."

"I see." Q said, interested. "I see! And so you petition the court to accept you and your comrades as proof of what humanity has become?"

"There must be many ways in which we can be tested!" Picard replied. "We have a long mission ahead of us."

"Another brilliant suggestion, captain!" Q said, nodding. He then shook his head. "But your test hardly requires a long mission. Your immediate destination offers far more challenge than you can possibly imagine."

Picard looked sharply back toward Q. This was getting interesting, at least from my viewpoint, but I knew what Q had in mind, and I doubted it would be enough for a true test. No, I had the perfect thing.

"Yes, this Farpoint station will be an excellent test."

I could tell that he was about to end the proceedings, so I decided to make an appearance.

"Okay, everybody!" I cried out. Q looked surprised, as did the Starfleet group. "It's been great, seeing all this from my own peculiar vantage point, but there are some things I'd like to clear up. First, this test won't do squat to convince _me._ Second, may I see the charges? And thirdly, this place is a fashion _disaster_. I know of someone who would be more than willing to make this place look better."

The man mutely passed it over, a grim look on his face.

"Who _are_ you?" Q asked me.

"What's wrong, can't get through my mind?" I asked teasingly.

I looked over to the prisoner's dais, Deana was trying to figure me out. A flick of my mind reassured me that she was just an empath, not a full mind reader.

"Eh, for the sake of a handle to call me by." I said, acting resigned. "You can call me Loki."

"The Norse god of mischief." Data said. Picard looked unsettled by my choice of name.

I turned my attention to the data pad, and read through the list of charges. I found what was I was looking for: a charge of illicit genetic experimentation in the year 1970, running through to the Khan era of experimentation.

I handed the pad back to the man, thinking about what I had seen. This could definitely be played interestingly. "I have a test of my own that I shall administer. From what I have seen, captain, even with legal trickery pulled out from under you, you have excellent debate skills. They won't really help you with my test."

"Are you quite done?" Q asked me impatiently.

"Not quite." I replied. I turned slowly towards Q. "You are charged with two counts of quick freezing a living sentient being, though I am willing to overlook one charge on the grounds that you did thaw said person with no ill effects beyond what she might have experienced had she fainted. You are also charged with one count of general terrorism and one count of unfair trial."

At this point, the chair was very close to the ground, and Q was standing right in front of me. In a very quiet voice I said "There's also the records that your people have kept concerning you. I might feel like prosecuting those too. Can you withstand that?"

He was silent for several moments. "No, I could not."

"Well, fortunately, I'm not the one to prosecute the charges this time. Your own people will have to do that. The Starfleet people won't remember even so much as my appearance, there are things that must be done first before they can be tested. Adieu!"

I left the courtroom, erasing the Starfleet officer's memories of me before completely fading away.

_August 15, 2009:_

The Flock was a group of six juvenile people, tightly bound together by common bonds of certain genetic keys and various hardships. The eldest of the group seemed to play dual roles of parent and squad leader, guiding her family through trial after trial without missing a beat. They had just rescued a certain Valencia Martinez from the clutches of Mr. Chu of the Chu Corporation, and were playing in the warm waters near Hawaii or flying high above.

"She approves." Fang said to Max, breaking off from a kiss.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Max asked wryly. "Someone should really tell that dolphin that he's not Angel's personal watercraft."

Fang smiled at that, and moved to kiss Max again when a hole opened in the sky. It was mostly white, though royal blue streaks seemed to pulsate out from it for several seconds before I was ejected from the hole and it closed with a whooshing snap.

Max tracked the thing that had been ejected from the hole, and her eyes widened in shock as she realized what it was: another human-avian hybrid.

I continued to plummet, and Max began to wonder if I knew how to fly. A shared look with Fang, and they both shot down towards me.

I stabilized in the air, and managed to level off, allowing Max to see my wings better. They were a dark brown, flecked with silver near the middle joint, and tipped with blue. I was rather familiar with flying, and attempting to show it because the beats were regularly paced, and slow, just hard enough to propel the me forward and keep me at my current altitude.

Max drew alongside on my left, while Fang approached on the right.

"Who are you?" Max demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"The name's Ajax." came the reply. "And I'm flying here."

"Yeah, kinda got that, based on the whole flapping the wings and the moving forward while being high above the land." came the sharp retort. "How did you get here?"

"Hyperspace jump." I said calmly. "I forgot to carry the one when I was calculating the whole thing. That's what I was falling."

"Any particular reason you chose to arrive here? I'm assuming you intended to arrive here." Max responded.

"You mean aside from the lovely weather, the friendly people, the great food, and the warm water?" I asked teasingly. "I came with a message."

"From who?" Max demanded.

"I dunno." I responded. "Some guy who calls himself Loki. Wants you to participate in a test."

"No." Max said flatly. "Not happening."

"You mind if I explain it a little before shooting it down in flames?" I asked testily. "You don't even know what it is."

"Fine." Max said, rolling her eyes. "Speak quick."

"You will get all the food and drink you want, a warm and relatively secure place to sleep at night, and all you have to do is agree to do it." She wanted quick, so I gave it to her quick.

"What's the catch?" Max asked, suspicious.

I shrugged. "Time travel. You and your family aren't the ones being tested. The people you will meet -_if_ you agree- are being tested."

"And if I don't agree?" Max asked me.

I shrugged again, keeping it casual. "Then you miss out on the offer, and Loki finds another way to test these people. There's no obligation."

"It sounds too good to be true." Max said suspiciously. "But the fact that you're not trying to force it on me is a point in your favor. I know a way to find the truth."

I raised an eyebrow, and looked over towards where she had been flying, but she was already inverted and headed for the waves. I banked left twenty degrees, and maintained my current speed and altitude. After several moments, I saw Max and Angel ascending to my altitude.

I had already made it so that Angel would find me to be trustworthy, and that she would find the offer to be legit, I couldn't afford not to. Unless…no. I quickly shook the thought out of my mind. I didn't want to be as bad as Q. I could just send them to the Enterprise, but I didn't want to throw them there so abruptly.

After a telepathic conversation between max and Angel, Max turned towards me.

"We'll do it. Anything we should know before we go?"

"Well, the landing might suck. Hopefully we won't clip anything. I can think of at least three consoles I wouldn't want to be aimed at. There shouldn't be any lasting or major damage."

"Shouldn't? So, there could be some lasting damage, or major injuries." Max said, suspicious again.

"Yeah, but I'm willing to risk it." I replied. "I'm reasonably certain nobody will hit anything."

"We'll do it, but if there is permanent harm to anybody, you'll have Hell to pay." Max said warningly.

I nodded my acceptance of her terms. "Very well, I accept full responsibility if anything goes wrong. People might wish to change into dry clothes. The temperature where we're going with be a brisk 65 degrees, and dry, compared to this locale."

"When are we going?" Max asked. Was that resignation in her voice?

"Whenever you're ready." I replied.

Max made a signal with her hand, and the entire Flock dropped towards the ground, making a smooth landing on the beach. I leisurely glided after them, preferring to make a long landing comparable to a jetliner rather than a fighter jet.

Ten minutes went by as the Flock was getting ready, during which time Dr. Martinez found me.

"I don't know what all you have planned, Ajax, but you better not do anything to my daughter." she said.

I inclined my head respectfully. "I've already been warned that if harm comes to her or her family that I'll be paying Hell. That's not a thought I relish."

"Who told you that you'd have Hell to pay?" Dr. Martinez asked, curious.

"Max. Frankly, I believe her." I replied easily.

"You should. She doesn't make idle threats, and if she says she's going to do something, she's going to do it."

"You have raised her well." I said. "Very few keep their word anymore."

She didn't reply, but lapsed into silence, during which time I picked up a handful of sand, using my abilities on it.

"Here." I said, holding out the freshly-created cell phone. "You have my word that you will be able to reach max with this phone. It's a hotline, so you'll be able to use it as soon as Max gets her end."

She accepted the phone. "I'll hold you to that." she said.

Just then, Max and the rest of the Flock walked up. "Ready?"

"As ready as we ever will be." she replied.

I tossed her a red cell phone. "Have a hotline." I jumped into the air, and Max followed with her Flock.

"So where are we going?" Gazzy asked excitedly.

I shot a wary look towards the fart factory, and edged ahead in case he left one off. "A ship."

"Do they have explosives on board?" Gazzy asked, even more excited.

"Yup. I'll let Max tan your hide if she finds you doing anything to the photon torpedoes." I replied. In a conspiratorial tone I added "But I won't rat you out either."

Gazzy grinned, but it was short lived, as he screwed up his face with a scowl of concentration. I edged further ahead, in time to hear the unmistakable sound of Gazzy letting it rip.

"Where's the afterburner on this thing?" I muttered.

"Flyboys! 12'o'clock high!" Nudge yelled out.

"Oh, scrap." I swore. "Come on everybody, we're getting out of here!"

The group bunched up, then a white flash of light surrounded us all for several seconds…

_Stay tuned for more!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Stardate 45397.3:_

When the light faded, we were scattered about on the deck, pinned by various pieces of machinery. I heard hissing noises, and the power was fluctuating.

After several minutes, Iggy thought he heard people approaching. "I hear people coming." he said tersely.

"And?" Max asked. "Right now, anything is better than being stuck here, no thanks to Ajax over there."

"Sorry guys." I said apologetically. "I didn't carry the twenty."

"Do you always forget to carry a number?" Max cried.

"Guys!" Angel broke in. "That's spilt milk, no use crying over it. What do we do with the people that are coming?"

"…structural integrity is beginning to fail." Data announced. "And there are survivors, I'm picking up life signs from this direction."

The beeping sound of an active tricorder was heard, and shortly thereafter, three Starfleet officers rushed in.

The first was wearing a yellow uniform, and his face looked like a pale yellow color. The second person to rush in was wearing a metal frame over his eyes, and the third looked like a normal human.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Just peachy." Max retorted. "Who are you?"

I snickered in spite of the beam pinning me in place, I knew I could count on Max's sarcasm.

"I'm Commander William T. Riker, of the USS Enterprise." he said, recovering from Max's comment. "Geordi, help me get this off of her."

"Right." Geordi replied. He put his tricorder back into a pocket or holster that was designed for the equipment, and moved to one side of the core console that Max was pinned under.

"On three." Riker said, getting ready to push. "One, two…three!"

The two men heaved as hard as they could, allowing Max to get free of her position before allowing the console to fall back to the ground with a crash.

Max dusted herself off before moving to help with the efforts to free the others in her family.

Down the corridor, something gave way and crashed to the deck. The air was beginning to get too thin to breath, and Riker tapped his combadge.

"Riker to Enterprise, structural integrity is failing, and the ship seems to be slowly venting atmosphere."

"Understood, Number one. Report back to the ship immediately." came a voice.

"Understood." Riker tapped his combadge again. "We have to go." he said, talking to Max.

"I won't leave without my family." Max said firmly, jaw set in defiance.

"Data can get them clear of the debris." Riker said. "We have to go, now!"

Max just sighed, and shook her head.

"Geordi, let's go!" Riker ordered.

"Aye, sir. The structural integrity of this place is starting to scare me." replied the engineer.

"We'll have to get clear of the duranium shielding in this section to beam out." Riker walked towards the door, just as a hose worked itself loose from it's connection, venting mildly toxic gas into what was left of the atmosphere.

"Go with them." Data commanded Max. "I will free the others."

Something about his voice made her believe him, and she gave them one last looked before nodding and dashing out of the room with Iggy, Fang, and Angel right behind her.

Nudge was pinned under a beam that was so heavy she could barely breath. Data, seeing that she had more weight on her than Gazzy did, and was having more trouble breathing, helped her first.

"I am about to lift this beam off of you." he said simply. "As soon as you can, move clear."

Nudge nodded her understanding, then Data picked up the beam, allowing Nudge to scramble clear.

"That was cool!" Gazzy exclaimed. "Can you do it again?"

"Under these circumstances, it would be inadvisable." Data informed the Gasman. "However, if the circumstances were not dire, I could perform that action many times."

He picked up the console that Gazzy was pinned under, and shoved it aside before reaching down and wholesale lifting the Gasman out of his resting place.

Data was about to leave the room when Nudge asked "What about Ajax?"

Data put his head to one side, then pulled out his tricorder, and swept the room for life signs. Finding a third, he moved to my position, and easily pulled the beam off my chest.

"Thanks." I croaked, rolling out of the slight depression.

"Are you alright?" Data asked. "The air is becoming more toxic, and the beam weighed in excess of six hundred pounds."

"It wasn't resting on me, just blocking any attempt to more out from under it." I said. "And if the air is so toxic, we should get outta here!"

We quickly exited the duranium-shielded room, and Data called for a beam-out.

When the lights cleared from my eyes, I found myself standing in a wide alcove, large enough for several people to stand in, and with about two feet of headroom. I stepped down from the platform with a nod to the transporter operator, and followed Data out of the room.

"Picard to Data." the combadge sounded.

Data tapped it. "Data here. Go ahead, captain."

"Data, will you bring the people you rescued to the conference room? The rest of their family is here, and apparently, are none too pleased about being separated."

"Acknowledged. Data out." the android tapped his combadge again before turning towards the three of us. "Please follow me." he instructed simply.

We followed him at a brisk pace before he entered an elevator. I saw Nudge and Gazzy hesitating, so I calmly boarded the turbo lift. That seemed to reassure them, and they entered.

The doors closed behind Gazzy, and Data announced "Deck One." It bleeped in response, and began to move.

"Are there bombs here?" Gazzy asked, eyes bright. Leave it to him to ask about that sort of thing.

I put my hand on his shoulder, and shook my head, but Data chose to answer the question regardless.

"There are no bombs as such on this vessel, however, the photonic torpedoes explode when they hit their target."

There was a slight squealing sound, and the turbo lift stopped, then the doors opened.

I heard a soft sequential bleeping sound, and looked out over the bridge.

Data strode confidently across the back of the bridge, stopping in front of a door, giving us a moment to catch up. "This is the conference room." he stated, then entered.

We followed, and my instincts from 'years of fending for myself' kicked in. I initiated a mild telepathic scan, ignoring the signatures of the other Flock members.

"Captain?" Deana asked.

"Yes Councilor." Picard replied.

"That one is a telepath." she indicated me with a brief nod of her head.

"How can you tell?" Riker asked.

"Because his mind briefly touched mine. He's been blocking me out completely since." Deana replied.

"And what did you feel from him?" Data asked sitting at one of the chairs.

"There was a sense of curiosity, followed by a brief moment of urgency." Deana replied.

Meanwhile, there was a conversation of our own happening at the other end of the table.

"Baldy is the captain, mustache is the first officer, metal frame is the chief engineer and is blind…somehow the frame allows him to see. The woman in the blue uniform can sense emotions, perhaps even thoughts if they are strong enough. Yellow face is an android, and wrinkled head is the security chief…a Klingon. I don't recommend messing with him, but we could probably get the others wound up pretty tight if we wanted to." I said.

Just then, the door hissed open, and Dr. Crusher stepped inside. She was wearing a blue lab coat over her uniform, and we all were standing at the opposite side of the room within five seconds, in full combat mode.

Deana's face showed her concern, and she quickly moved Dr. Crusher out of the room.

"Most intriguing." Data said, head over to one side. "They seemed to react rather strongly to Dr. Crusher's entrance."

"Maybe they've had a bad experience with medical personnel in the past." Picard suggested.

I silently reevaluated the man. His voice commanded respect, though I still suspected I could take him in a fight.

"So how would we find out about these sorts of things without them turning on us?" Riker asked. Just then, the door opened again, and Dr. Crusher walked in with Deana.

We hadn't really gotten a good look at her before, but there a general consensus that the removal of a lab coat didn't change things much. We tensed, but didn't drop down into battle mode like we had before.

"Please sit down." the captain invited. We did as he had asked, but I didn't drop my guard.

"How did you come to be on that ship?" he asked.

I spoke up. "I'm the one who set up and powered the jump…I managed to misplace a twenty somewhere in the mix."

"Do you know what happened aboard that vessel?"

"No."

"Where did you transport from?" Data asked. "There were no ships detected in the vicinity, and I find it difficult to believe that you would chose to transport aboard a crippled vessel."

"Believe me, it wasn't on purpose." I answered. "I was actually hoping to arrive on the bridge of this vessel, directly in front of the Emergency Turbolift. We transported from the airspace of planet Earth, North America, USA, Hawaii. I can't be more specific than that, as I don't know which island I was flying above."

"Your clothing isn't like everyone else's." Riker noted quietly. "Why?"

"So you noticed." Max said snidely. "What year is it? We were just in 2009."

That seemed to shock them, and I sat back in satisfaction. This was gonna be good…

"Look." Max said, standing up. "We're hungry, and can be rather difficult if we want to be. My personal recommendation, you adjourn this meeting, and we all reconvene later…after we've eaten."

Picard looked surprised, and Worf looked like he was irritated by Max's pronouncement. After a moment, he nodded. "Very well. Mr. Data, will you escort our guests to Ten-Forward?"

"Aye sir." the android replied gravely.

"Dismissed." Everyone moved away from the table, and Data walked out of the room.

The Flock followed warily, unsure of what this 'Ten-Forward' had in store for us.

_Answer to Reader:_

_Ajax is testing the Q's contention that humanity is a savage child-race. His role is to tell the story, and do stuff with everybody else.  
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	3. Chapter 3

After we exited the conference room, we boarded the turbo lift, headed for deck ten. I briefly entertained the thought of turning on my music to relieve the stress I felt building up inside, but remembered that I needed to put up a strong front for the younger ones.

A faint squeal sounded, jerking me out of my thoughts and back to reality. Data patiently waited for us to clear the turbo lift before exiting.

We rounded a corner, and at the end of the corridor, I saw a pair of doors different from the rest in that these were, or maybe just appeared to be, oak heartwood. All the other doors were the lightweight plastic-looking things that would have blended into the walls if it hadn't been for the doorframes.

The room was approximately as long as the conference room, but about three times as wide, and was lavishly and tastefully appointed.

"They can and will serve alcoholic beverages here." I whispered to Max.

She nodded, then tapped Data gently on the shoulder.

"Yes?"

"We don't drink alcohol." Max stated, remembering Germany. "Are there non-alcoholic beverages here?"

The android nodded. "Yes, there is a large selection of drinks, with the alcoholic beverages making up nearly forty five percent of the menu."

Max nodded, processing what he had said.

Just then, Guinan walked in. El-Aurians seem to be much better at detecting Q-like power signatures, and I was rather sloppy about my cloaking, only making sure that Betazoids and other telepathic species could not gain access.

Our little group had sat down at two tables, me, Fang, Iggy and Data at one table while Max, Angel, Nudge and Gazzy were at the other table. My back was to the other table, and facing the door on the opposite side of the room when Guinan had entered.

She made eye contact, and I sat back slightly, trying to keep my outward demeanor of being at ease. She walked past the bar, picking up a fork of some kind as she did so.

"Is something wrong, Ajax?" Data inquired gently.

"Huh? Oh, no, everything's cool. For the moment."

"I believe Guinan is coming to take our order." he continued.

I looked again, and saw her change course ever so slightly, stopping at Max's table first.

Deciding not to worry too much, lest Angel find out, I calmly reached under the table, and plucked a slate PADD out of thin air, and began scoring the performance as I had seen it thus far.

"What can I get for you gentlemen this evening?" Guinan asked.

I jerked slightly, and put down the PADD. "I'll have a sirloin steak, medium rare, with a tall glass of lemonade, please." I said.

After everyone else at the table had ordered, Data spoke up. "I was told that these people do not indulge in alcoholic beverages." he stated.

"Virgin it is." she said nodding. She turned to address me. "Could you come with me? The order is rather large."

I nodded and stood up, following her back to the bar. It must have been early, because there was nobody else in the room yet, save for Deana Troi, who was enjoying a chocolate confection that seemed to consist of chocolate with chocolate swirls and chocolate. I got a headache just from trying to figure out exactly how much chocolate was in the dish.

"Are you a Q?" Guinan asked quietly. Her voice was dead serious, and held steel deep within.

"No." I replied.

She whirled around and stabbed my hand with the fork she had picked up earlier.

My eyes watered with pain as I jerked the fork out. "Why'd you do that?" I ground out, hissing in pain. "That hurt."

"I did that because you lied; I know you are a Q." Guinan replied.

"I did not lie." I replied, healing my hand. "My name is Ajax, not Q. I will admit that I've had dealings with Q before, he's the one who got me started with the Continuum."

"Really?" Guinan asked. For some reason, she seemed genuinely interested.

"Yeah, he gave me powers that didn't quite extend up to the level of a member of the Continuum, but then when I repaired some damage I came across that he had done, the Continuum seemed to sit up and take notice. They vested me with enough power to completely shut Q down, for a few minutes, at least, and gave me my continuing mission: to apologize to the universe for Q's antics, and fix whatever problems he causes."

Guinan finished putting the food onto trays, and I took them over to where the Flock was sitting while she worked with drinks.

"I'll be at the bar." I told Max. "There are some things I need to work out privately."

Max nodded, then turned her attention back to the discussion at hand about what to do with the bridge crew when they met the next evening.

I discreetly dropped a shield over the table so that Troi and Data couldn't hear, then set up a telepathic barrier against Angel so that she wouldn't hack into my mind while I spoke with Guinan.

"So, if your job is to apologize to the universe for Q's antics, why are you here, now?" Guinan queried.

I smiled grimly. "Because Q opened an investigation, stating that humans were a savage child-race. I was like them, once." I gestured to the table. "Mortal, a freak by the standards of the race. Envied by some, hated by others, feared by all."

"A freak?" Guinan asked. "What do you mean by that? You seem normal enough."

"Did you notice the large amount of food everyone asked for?" I smirked as she started to see my point. "And if that's not enough, then there's the two percent avian DNA in their genetic structures. Wings, air sacs, blood cells with nuclei, hollow bones, a higher rate of cellular repair, and of course the ability to seriously kick butt. In short, marvels of genetic engineering." I said. "There's also the irreparable damage to their psyche, a massive distrust of anything smelling like antiseptic, wearing a lab coat, or holding a hypodermic needle. I was one of them, until Q happened upon me, nearly five years ago, by your method of reckoning time. I did move forward through time though, otherwise I'd have been old and grey by the time this ship showed up."

"What did you do when you first got your powers?" Guinan asked.

"I put the scientists who had been working with me into their vision of what hell would look like, and left them there while I went on a whirlwind tour of the milky with Q. Wasn't until I finished the tour that I realized I was being just as bad to them as they were to me, and brought them out of the hell I had sent them to." My voice showed my regret for the decision, and I quickly returned to my food.

The enlisted crew began to trickle in, meaning that Guinan began moving around quite a bit more, serving up drinks and sage advice as asked.

The Flock was finishing up as Guinan found a brief break. I leaned over the bar, and said. "I would rather you not share anything I've talked about with you until I've finished my work here. The crew is being tested, and I certain they will pass if they know they're being tested. I don't want them to know."

"I understand perfectly" she said. "I know I'm going to regret asking, but where is Q now?"

I pulled a pocket watch out of thin air, and opened it. "If this thing is accurate, he's on trial among the Continuum right now due to his antics." I snapped it closed again. "Which is why I'm here. Q asked me to perform another test on Picard and his crew, as an 'act of gratitude for everything' he's done for me. Damned silver tongue, I couldn't resist the opportunity, not when worded like that."

"I see. How traumatic will this test be for them?" Guinan asked.

"Not very. Maybe a little bit, but it's all very much up in the air right now…I've presented the Flock as the test for Picard. The crew's treatment of them determines the pass or fail. I've gotta shove, see you later."

Guinan just nodded, thinking about everything that she had heard while I rejoined the Flock.

"Was the food good?" I asked, grinning.

"Depends." Max replied. "How much did it cost?"

"There is no charge." Data said, answering the question.

"Well, it was far better than most of the free stuff we've had over the course of our lifetimes." Max said sincerely.

Just then, captain Picard walked into the compartment, stopping directly in front of me. "Can I assume you are the leader of this group?" he asked.

"No…why?" I asked.

"Because I would very much like to speak with whomever is the leader…In private." he replied.

"Talk to Max." I said. "She's the leader of the Flock. I'm just sort of tagging along."

Max shot me a look that said 'Remind me to _kill_ you later,' then followed the captain out of Ten-Forward.

Max and Picard entered the captain's quarters, and Picard calmly ordered a beverage from the replicator just as I was tuning in to what Max was seeing and hearing.

"…Grey, hot." the replicator bleeped in response, hummed, and deposited a cup of Earl Grey amidst a swirl of light. "Can I get you anything?" Picard asked kindly.

"No thanks, I just ate a full meal for once." Max replied. "I'm good for now."

"You had stated that your group or 'Flock', I believe you call them? Could be very difficult if they wanted to be." Picard stated. "I would like to avoid that if possible."

"Okay…" Max said, drawing out the word.

"Why did your group react so strongly when Dr. Crusher walked in?" Picard asked, sitting back.

Max narrowed her eyes at the mention of a doctor, but answered the question anyway. "We haven't had good experiences with doctors in the past. They just want to poke us, prod us and run endless tests on us. I had hoped, for a short time after arriving on your ship, that we had somehow managed to escape all that."

"I seriously doubt that Dr. Crusher would run endless tests on you." Picard said, almost laughing at the prospect.

"I don't doubt it." Max shot back. "My family is different. Different enough that people saw us as freaks back where we were. We have to go around with jackets on just to seem normal!"

Picard was taken aback, and began to think that maybe Deana would have been able to handle the situation a bit better.

"Why would you have to do that? Is it due to some abnormality?" Picard asked, recovering.

"You could say that." Max said bitterly. A tired note entered her voice, and the anger evaporated almost as quickly as it had come. "My family and I are human-avian hybrids. We have wings, air sacs, hollow bones, the whole nine."

"Oh." Picard said, shocked. "I'm sorry for my insensitivity."

"Don't be." Max replied. "You were actually far more sensitive about this than many, many others in my life, and it's amazingly free to be like this rather than be forced to walk everywhere. Ever done a dive in excess of three hundred miles per hour through a thunderstorm sporting eighty mile-an-hour winds?" At the captain's shake of the head, Max continued. "It's like nothing else in the world."

I began to feel a drain on my power, slight but noticeable, and pulled myself away from Max's senses of sight and sound as her phone began to ring.

Because the phone call was being channeled through me, I was able to hear both ends of the conversation quite easily.

"Hello?" Max asked

"Oh, Max!" came Dr. Martinez's voice. "It seems Ajax was right about the hotline at least. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing alright. I'm on the Enterprise." Max replied. "I had dinner with the Flock, and I was just in a meeting with the captain."

"You're on an aircraft carrier? What would you be doing there?"

I realized with a sinking feeling that Max was about to give away the secret, so I quickly placed a privacy shield around Max.

Picard had been mystified when he heard an old rock song sounding from Max's pocket, and even more so when she pulled out a stoplight-red cell phone, and proceeded to begin a conversation. The appearance of a milky-white shield around his houseguest only added to the list of things that didn't add up right. After looking around for several seconds, he came to a conclusion and said "Q! Show yourself!" Nothing happened.

"No, Mom, I'm not on an aircraft carrier, I'm in space."

"_That_ Enterprise! Who's the captain?" Valencia asked.

"Some bald guy…Picard, I think they called him."

"So…you _are_ in the future? Am I understanding you right?"

"Yeah, pretty much. They seem to be going out of their way to be nice, so I'm just waiting for the house of cards to fall." Max replied. "I'm kinda wondering about something though…if I'm in the future, how is the phone still working?"

"That's a good question." Dr. Martinez replied. Silence hung between them for several seconds. "You should probably ask that guy about it. He seems like the type to know things."

"Maybe." Max returned, smiling. "He can't seem to figure out how to transport people. We ended up on a disabled ship that the Enterprise was coming to so they could investigate what had happened."

"Oh, no! What happened?"

"We ended up pinned under various pieces of equipment, but nobody suffered much more than a few bruises here and there."

"Well, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I promised I'd take Ella to the stylist today, and we need to leave for the appointment in three minutes. I love you, Max. Take care of yourself out there."

"I will, Mom. I love you too. Bye." Max tapped the touch screen where it said **End Call**, and it bleeped in response, showing the total elapsed time she had been on the phone.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I allowed the privacy shield to fade away, and Picard picked up the meeting again.

"Do you happen to be in league with Q?" he asked quietly. His voice was dead serious, leaving Max feeling like there was no room for error. She decided to begin messing with his head.

"Yeah. He's pretty nice. Why?"

"Because I've been witness to strange events that lead to that conclusion. Why did he bring you here?"

"He said that we deserved a nice vacation or something like that." Max replied casually. "He said to say hi for him, because he's got business elsewhere right now."

"Did he specify what business he might have?" Picard asked.

"No, just said that we would be returned to our own time when we've had enough R&R. Honestly, if that's true, we're gonna be here for quite a while." As amusing as it had been, Max felt it best to shy away from the Q subterfuge. She didn't know enough to spin a convincing tale for Picard, and he was far too interested for her comfort.

"And why is that?" Picard asked, deceptively quiet.

"Because we don't really want to go back." Max replied. "We've had a hard life up til now, and I'm going to enjoy this opportunity as much as I can. If there's nothing else…?" Max stood up in a clear end to the meeting.

Realizing he wouldn't be getting any more information from Max at the moment, he nodded tiredly. "I'll have Mr. Data escort your family to your quarters."

"Thank you." Max said sincerely. She paused at the door to offer a half-wave, then left.

_Answer to reader:_

_NinthFeather: It's kinda easy to paint a verbal caricature of the TNG crew. Geordi is metal banana clip, Data is yellowface, Riker (depending on season) is mustache, Deana is the empath, Worf is wrinkled head, and Picard is baldy!_

_As far as Ajax goes, he's well aware, and is currently sitting on my couch, sweat-dropping. Oh, and he wants to know what the outcome will be. (oh, the general curiosity of a bird-kid!)_

_Um…stay tuned?_


	4. Chapter 4

"Why did you pass the buck like that?" Max demanded.

"Like what?" I asked, playing innocent.

"When captain Picard came in, and asked about who the leader was, you passed to me." Max replied.

"Yes I did, I'm sorry. Did he do any experiments on you?" I responded, adding sarcasm for better affect.

""No…" Max answered. "Which reminds me…how exactly does that phone work? Or are we not where everyone and everything would have us believe?"

I turned serious instantly. "You are indeed on th dash one seven zero one D Enterprise, roughly four hundred years into the future…or something like that. When you're actually _in_ the future, it's the present…time travel is weird that way. As for how the phone works, I wasn't completely honest when I pitched this whole 'test' thing. 'Loki' was me. I am…a person of incredible power."

"You…lied to us?" Max asked, eyebrows going up.

"If in the sense that a slight falsehood woven into the whole makes the whole a lie…then yes." I replied. "Breaking it down into several components though…I am Loki. The part about not knowing who Loki was is a lie. It is a test, and it's not a test for you. That's the truth. The room and board part was also true. The relatively secure bit…space _is_ hazardous in certain places. There are other races beyond humans, such as the Romulans, Cardassians and Klingons. Do you remember Worf, the dark guy with the crinkly head? He's a Klingon."

Max nodded slowly as I talked, taking it all in. Finally, she spoke. "So…you still didn't answer the question. How does the phone work?"

"You have your secrets, I have mine." I said. "Let's just put it up to magic and call it good, shall we? Thus far, I've kept my end on the important stuff."

Max was forced to agree, a name wasn't a major thing, at least, not as far as she knew, but the important stuff had come through.

"So, why'd we end up under various pieces of junk on the other ship?" Max asked. "For that matter, why'd you come out of thin air all screwy back at Hawaii? If you're so powerful, why not do it right?"

"Okay, the landing on the other ship was so that they would find us and 'rescue' us. As far as Hawaii goes, it was fun." I replied.

Max huffed, but didn't offer a parting retort before entering her suite. It was spacious by Federation standards, though it still felt a bit small to her. Swallowing her slight claustrophobia, she kicked off her shoes, and was in bed within a minute.

After a moment, she looked up at the ceiling with a puzzled look on her face. "Computer?"

It bleeped in reply.

"Turn off the lights, and wake me in eight hours."

"Acknowledged." the computer replied. The lights dimmed to nothing, and Max slowly drifted to sleep.

I, on the other hand, disappeared from the halls of the _Enterprise_, reappearing on her fantail with a PADD in hand. A snap of my fingers, and a hammock appeared, secured to each warp nacelle. The cold airlessness of space didn't bother me as I settled into my hammock with a soda in hand.

After several minutes, there was a bright flash as Q arrived.

"What up, like?" I asked, not looking up from the PADD.

"I've been stripped of all my powers, except for the ability to go wherever I want. The Continuum is deciding my fate as we speak."

I snapped my fingers, causing a chair to appear out of thin air. "Have a seat," I said, wedging my PADD into a deck plate.

He sat reluctantly, and I turned most of my prodigious attention towards him, keeping a little bit of my attention focused on watching what was happening with the Flock. Right now, they were all peacefully sleeping.

"So?" I prompted.

He frowned. "It doesn't look good." he admitted. "So far, it seems as though I may be severely limited in my powers, far beyond what they had you doing earlier."

I poured him some Romulan Ale, then poured myself a glass. "So, how bad are we talking?"

"Expulsion." Q said seriously, accepting the ale. "I would be…" he shuddered at the thought "_mortal_. I may get lucky and be able to redeem myself in the eyes of the Continuum, but that's not necessarily going to happen. I could _die_."

I slammed the entire glass of ale, finding myself sympathizing with the errant Q. "How about you?" he asked. "How's it going with the test you're pulling on Picard?"

I shrugged. "Meh." I said, picking up the PADD. "They haven't done anything untoward thus far. Maybe I was a bit too…obvious."

"Ya think?" he drawled. "Six genetic aberrations, especially after the little trial I whipped up?"

"I don't know. I haven't spent as much time with Picard and his crew as you have." I replied. "Still, they might start looking at experimentation. I've been in their situation, you know. I highly doubt that this will be as easy as it might have appeared at first."

"I don't know." Q replied. "I think Picard has it in him. If the Continuum kicks me out, I'm going to ask to be made human, and placed on the _Enterprise._"

"Ask for clothes while you are at it." I answered dryly. "What you are wearing now is energy resembling clothes, covering a construct of energy that resembles a body. When you have a real body, you will need real clothes. While I bet that Picard will grant you a place to stay, he won't be happy to see you. Even less so if you show up _Au naturale._"

"But he's French." Q replied. "_Au naturale_ is what they do."

"He's Starfleet, and they cling to more archaic customs. Also, you were referring to the Greeks, I believe." I replied.

Q snorted, then looked up sharply. "I've got to go back into the courtroom. I'll let you know about the verdict as soon as I can, that is of course, _if_ I can." he added somberly.

I felt pity for my mentor. The once-brash, nearly omnipotent being was genuinely afraid, no trace of his odd sense of humor visible.

It was with a somber mood that I returned my attention to the PADD. I realized that I could be missed, and quietly showed myself to the guest quarters that had been appointed to me. I grunted slightly, seeing that it held true with most everything Starfleet did, and set down the PADD on the table. The room was, predictably, beige, and Spartan. There was nothing to make the place feel like a home in any way, shape or form, but there was a replicator. Not feeling the need to sleep just yet, I returned to the bridge.

"What are you doing up here?" Picard asked, seeing me in the turbo lift.

"I'd like to speak with you, sir." I replied. "In private, if possible?"

Picard nodded. "My ready room. Number one, you have the bridge."

"I have the Bridge. Aye sir." Riker replied.

Just then, there was a bright flash, and the thump of a body hitting the deck.

I turned to look, as did Picard. Q was laying on the deck, fully clothed.

"Q." Picard ground out.

"A letter of the alphabet?" I asked stupidly. "Is that like the abbreviation for Quantum or something?"

"That's actually a fairly decent guess." Picard admitted. "But probably not."

"Oh." I replied. "What's he doing here?"

"He's probably got something designed to annoy us again." Picard answered.

"Mon Capitan! I need sanctuary!" Q cried out.

That got Picard's attention. "Why?" he asked, turning at the door to his ready room.

"The Continuum has stripped me of my powers." Q said. "I'm just like you now. Human. …mortal." he added quietly. There was a strong note of despair in his voice, and Picard believed him.

"Very well." he said. "Worf, take our newest guest to the brig. I'll deal with him later."

"With pleasure, sir." Worf said, stepping over to Q. After a moment, he began dragging Q to the nearby turbo lift.

A few moments later, Picard was seated behind his desk, and I had turned one of the chairs around so as to sit backwards in the chair.

"Did Max have contact with Q before coming here?" Picard asked, after a few moments of silence.

"No." I replied. "If she said anything about Q, most likely it was because she saw an opportunity to push your buttons and wind you up. It's one of our primary sources of entertainment, as well as a relatively decent defense mechanism."

"So anything she's said could be suspect." Picard said, sighing. "This could be a problem. Without confidence that your group is providing true information, we will be severely hampered in any attempt to send you back to your proper time."

"Please bear in mind captain, we are used to torture. At the moment, Max is beginning to get rather flighty, pun intended, waiting for the other shoe to drop and this whole thing to devolve into a nightmare. Paranoid would not be an over exaggeration of her state of mind right now."

"I see." Picard said. "This is exactly why genetic experimentation was banned, it produced physical and mental instabilities within the people so altered. The current laws are so strident that someone who has been genetically altered is not permitted to serve in Starfleet. If I may be candid with you Ajax, I find myself concerned for the security of this ship, with not one, but seven such being aboard my ship."

"Oy!" I replied, mock indignantly. "I'll have you know, I have been housebroken. I won't pee on the rock or knock of fine china in a frenzy of excitement." I smiled as I finished my statement, watching the captain's face.

"I hardly thought for a moment that the carpets and fine china were in danger." Picard replied dryly.

"In all seriousness, Max serves in a number of roles, and this causes some stress. For the most part, we are a well adjusted bunch, so long as we aren't being run through lab rat like testing. Max…eh…" I hedged for a few moments, unsure of how to proceed as the captain's eyebrow rose in open curiosity.

"Uh…let's see if I can put this in a way that makes sense. Max is our mother, for we had no others who would fill that roll when we were younger. She is our squad leader. We'd follow her into Hell so she could retrieve an alarm clock, if it came to it. She and Fang-the dark silent one?"

At the captain's nod, I continued.

"They act as our security officers, attempting to keep us safe from danger. So, right now, the mother side of her is thrilled to bits that everyone has a warm bed to sleep in, and a full stomach.

The squad leader side is at a bit of a loss, wondering exactly what she's supposed to do in this alien situation, and the security side is just shy of beside herself worried for those who's case she is entrusted with. This ship is a strange place, far, far from home, with strange people all around, some of whom aren't even human. As you can imagine, that's a lot to deal with, especially since we really are from twenty-o-nine. Do you begin to see where her current stance is well within the norm?"

Picard sighed heavily, seeming to age somewhat before my eyes. "I can understand how that would be overwhelming at first, and given the time difference, even more pronounced. What do you suggest? How would I be able to put her suspicions to rest?"

"Time." I answered, after a long pause. "You can't remove her suspicions entirely, but if you tried to order her to your hospital for a complete examination tomorrow, you'd be a millimeter away from bluntly asking her to kill you."

"I can't imagine Worf taking that too kindly." Picard said.

"I didn't think so. The best you could do, if you needed medical information right now, would be to have the guy with the yellow skin do it, and that only if we could be assured that it wouldn't hurt at all."

"How can I trust you though?" Picard asked. "You admitted that your entire group is likely to try and wind us up, and you didn't exclude yourself from that statement."

"Short answer?" I asked, standing and putting the chair back where I'd found it. I looked him straight in the eye for several seconds. "Short answer is that you can't trust me entirely, but that's life. Life isn't safe. Life is usually a series of carefully calculated risks. What will you do with the choices presented? Have a good night, captain."

With that, I slipped out of the ready room, and returned to my quarters.

"What did the captain want?" Max asked.

I jumped, startled. "He's curious, but doesn't feel like pushing boundaries just yet. Especially when I told him that asking us to submit to a full medical exam would be tantamount to him asking you to kill him." I answered.

Max snickered a bit at that. "You really said that to him?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yes. Still, he wasn't afraid, just not stupid either."

"I think I could eventually learn to work with that." Max said after a moment. "I suppose if I just laid out the rules for them that would still be a bit much, wouldn't it?"

"Only a little, Max." I replied, smirking. "Only a little."

_A/N: I apologize for being absent for so long. My computer was upgraded at Christmas, but the hard drive was faulty, and right now, it's still at the service station. I have managed to get most of my old files back, and am working on everything on my Mom's computer, which means limited access. Additionally, the Muse likes to run and hide for any number of reasons, and I have to hunt her down, while keeping track of my other commitments._

_Anywho...I've been revisiting a lot of stuff, and working on stuff, and even posting some stuff. Please don't make this old writer believe he's been forgotten! Review? Please?_

_Answers to Readers:_

_NinthFeather: Yes, I admit it. I happen to be a guy with a heart of stone. I don't _do_ emotions. Eh. just kidding. Still, I do have trouble with it, and will attempt to fix that issue as I go on._

_hermione-of-vulcan: I believe that Max and Picard are evenly matched in the 'battle of wits' department. Max has sarcasm that can kill flies at 50 yards, Picard has that classical gentleman aura that can passively wear down an opponent. Even Q can't stand against the might of Picard's gentlemanly aura!_

_The Good Elkin: Total? Who's Total? Just kidding! He's with Akila, hanging out in Hawaii. I've never seen pets running around on the _Enterprise_, so Total stayed behind._


End file.
